For a long time many small businesses considered performing background checks an unessential requirement during the hiring process. Nowadays, however, things have changed. Job seekers have become skilled at hiding some aspects of their work history to make themselves seem more attractive to recruiters. Background checks are critical in helping to evaluate a candidate in beyond their face value.
Types of Employment Background Checks
- Criminal background check– it helps uncover whether the candidate has been involved in any illegal activities in the past, including embezzlement, sex offenses, fraud, and violent crimes. Depending on the position you’re hiring, a criminal background check should be thorough to the extent required by the law.
- Educational background check– confirms that the candidate has the required educational qualifications needed for the position.
- Drug test– the screening should be done by a trustworthy third-party professional. The test ensures that you maintain a drug-free working environment.
- Social media screening– this check is meant to assess candidates based on their social media behaviour, especially the content they post and share. Many employers will do a quick social media checks themselves at the final stages, but AI-powered social media screening is now available for employers wanting to conduct deep checks.
You can perform any of the above checks when hiring new employees or among your existing employees any time you deem right.
Reasons to Perform Background Checks on Employees
Employment background checks are an essential part of the employment screening process. If you don’t already believe this, here are six reasons that should convince you.
- Prevents Workplace Violence
Statistics show that millions of employees face workplace-related violence, with 18,400 injuries reported in 2017 alone. The number of cases depends on the industry with some industries such as healthcare, education, and service providers being more prone than others. Doing a thorough background check minimizes the risk of hiring a candidate who will put your employees and clients at risk. If you ignore the screening process and unknowingly employ a sex offender who ends up raping or assaulting other employees, then you’ll be held liable.
- Combats Claims of Negligent Hiring
It’s your duty as an employer to ensure that you do a comprehensive investigation of the employee’s qualifications before hiring. The kind of background check you do depends on the type of duties the employee will be performing. For instance, if you’re hiring someone who will have access to sensitive information or people’s homes, you should do a criminal background check.
If an employee steals something from a customer’s house or office, you’re held liable if you hadn’t done a criminal background check on the employee. A background check would have revealed that the employee had a history of stealing.
- Ensures Job Competency
Doing an educational and job history background check on prospective employees helps you confirm the claim the candidate makes on his resume. A competent employee has exceptional performance, which reduces costs overruns in the long run.
- Helps Maintain a Drug-Free Workplace
By doing a background check, you’re able to identify applicants who have been charged with drug offenses such as distribution and possession. Drug test screening helps eliminate drug users from your pool of applicants. As a result, you manage to reinforce your job policy on zero tolerance to drugs.
- Gives You a Full Picture of the Applicant
Nowadays, the job market is highly competitive, meaning many candidates hone their acting skills while attending a job interview. Social media screening can uncover any potential red flags or warning signs that you cannot pick up at interview. If the candidate has shared hate speech, discriminatory images, or inappropriate content that doesn’t match your organization’s values then the background check could have saved you countless time and retargets lost from hiring the wrong person.
- Gives You Peace of Mind
The entire employee screening process is expensive, time-consuming, and stressful. However, hiring the wrong employee can cost you a lot in the long run. Performing background checks assures you that new hires are more likely to;
- Be a good fit to the job and stay longer in their role
- Treat other employees with respect
- Fit the culture of your organization
- Notviolate workplace policies
With such confidence, you’ll be able to concentrate on other important issues of running your organization.
Bottom Line
Performing a background check on prospective employees helps you learn all you need to know about an employee. It ensures you get the perfect candidate for the job. Unless you want to repeat the interviewing process soon, make t